


The Plumber Meets the Angel

by Malkuthe



Series: Music the Dead Can Dance By [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, Halloween at Camp Half-Blood, Hephaestus Cabin is a 'fortress' against Hermes kids, M/M, Nico doesn't know Mario!, Nico is a Dork, Nico is a clueless dork, Will tries and fails at Italian accents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-23 00:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2527418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malkuthe/pseuds/Malkuthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Halloween has arrived at Camp Half-Blood and Nico di Angelo doesn’t seem to exactly grasp what Halloween has come to mean in the modern-day. All he knows is that people are supposed to dress in a scary way and ask for candy. He figures he doesn’t really need to change much. He still scares the shit out of the other campers, even the ones that have to stay year-round. Imagine his surprise when a particular blondie shows up at his doorstep wearing a red plumber’s outfit with a green one in tow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Plumber Meets the Angel

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, they belong to their respective owners.

Nico di Angelo had been called to the Underworld by his father for a week or so. It was one of the most torturous periods of time in his life as Will had been unable to come with him duties at camp preventing him from leaving for any extended period of time. Hades had given him the impression that it was a matter of life-and-death, though the Italian had wondered for significant periods of time why his father would need his help now that Thanatos was back in business, and the Doors had been restored, but it seemed as though monsters were getting more active.

They’d spent the first day bolstering Underworld defenses. Hazel had been there the second day, where she revealed to Nico that she was going back to Camp Jupiter to stay by Frank’s side more. He was not surprised. She had taken over his duties as ambassador of Pluto to the camp. She had been quite excited to say that Pluto was one of the more venerated gods in Camp Jupiter now, primarily because he kept in constant contact. Nico had asked his father about that, but the Lord of the Dead merely shrugged the question off.

It probably wasn’t time for him to find out why. Nevertheless, they had finished doing everything they needed to finish the first day. That in itself was probably why his dad had asked for his help, just to make things easier. He’d lost track of time prior to that week. He’d forgotten that all-hallows eve was coming. It didn’t make much sense that the Greek Underworld was preparing for the feast, as it was not even of Greek origins, but his father had told him that old spirits are stirring, those belonging to other gods. The Lord of the Dead claimed that they made even the Greek dead stir.

Apparently that wasn’t the whole reason he’d been asked to the Underworld. It turned out, that after the entire wedding kerfuffle that happened not too long ago, the Lord of the Dead had begun to think that he needed to be a better father for Nico. The son of Hades appreciated the sentiment, but he didn’t really think spending a week in the Underworld to bond with his godly dad, away from his boyfriend, was the best way to go about it. Nevertheless, he suffered through it, not wanting to offend Hades.

In the end he’d enjoyed being in the Underworld. Persephone had been such a dear, she actually made the son of Hades miss his mother. His step-mother seemed to have softened-up to the idea of Hades having had an affair. In truth, his father had told him in private, almost all the gods had stopped having such destructive fits of jealousy since Hera’s change of appearance and domain. It was a strange thing, but something that they were all grateful for. Too many mortals and demigods had suffered the wrath of their parents’ spurned lovers.

In the day, when Hades was off working, Persephone led him around her gardens. Nico was still somewhat wary of her, but he _did_ have the pomegranates from her garden to thank for his survival in the bronze jar. They both tried to mend things between them, and it had somewhat worked. Granted, Nico still didn’t get too close or speak too much, in case he got turned into some sort of plant again. It seemed, of all his friends, that he had the most experience with being turned into a plant. It was traumatizing, to say the least.

The son of Hades was snapped out of his reminiscence of the past week when he heard the knocking on his door. It was the day of Halloween, after all, and some of the campers were probably going around tricking the other campers who stayed in their cabins. Nico suspected that it was a son of Hermes at his door, but the voice that called out his name was the same voice that he had been missing for an entire godsdamned week. He had enjoyed dining with his father and step-mother. He had enjoyed working with Hades, exploring the gardens with Persephone, and in truth, he and his step-mother had snuck out to watch some souls get judged, but nothing quite compared to hearing his boyfriend’s voice again after a week of separation.

He ran to the door and flung it open, but almost instantly shut it again. Standing in front of his door was the unmistakable son of Apollo to whom Nico had given his heart. However, he was wearing overalls on top of a red shirt. There was a wide, toothy grin plastered on his face, along with a fake, bushy moustache.

Will wore a red cap with an M on the front, and, even more horrifyingly, it was like he had a fat-suit underneath the clothing. “Nico!” The son of Apollo’s hand gesticulated wildly. Well, his right hand. In his left hand was a similar costume. Only this one was green, and there was no fat-suit. “It’s a’me Will!” Colour rushed to Nico’s face, and his mouth hung open in shock, distress, and ultimately, offense, at the decidedly _bad_ fake Italian accent that Will Solace was trying to pull off. “A’happy Halloween’a!” The son of Hades glared at him and shut the door in his face.

“Nico! A’open this a’door!” called the voice from outside, still trying to imitate a _really_ terrible Italian accent. He could have at least tried! All thoughts of the underworld had been chased out of the son of Hades’ mind. He was still reeling from the sight that he’d seen. He took a few seconds to compose himself before he slowly opened the door again. “I’m sorry if I offended you. Don’t you recognize who I am?” Nico shook his head slowly. “Plumber?” No. “Nintendo?” What? “Mario?” Who? Will rolled his eyes at Nico who was staring at him blankly as though he was speaking another language.

“You could have at least _tried_ to do a _good_ Italian accent…” said the son of Hades, pouting more than a little. Will chuckled and kissed him on the tip of his nose. He blushed. “Anyway. What in Hades are you wearing, Solace?” Wasn’t Halloween supposed to be the holiday when you wear costumes of ghosts and demons and monsters? Wasn’t that sort of the point of all the cobwebs and paper bats that were strung all over the place? Well, except the Hades cabin, which had been deemed ‘ _satisfactorily terrifying’_ according to a note that had been slipped under the door.

“I just told you! I’m Mario!” Nico tilted his head curiously at his boyfriend. He still didn’t understand what this Mario was, or, rather, _who_ it was. He didn’t think there were any famous Italian plumbers with ridiculous moustaches, bad accents, and red overalls. “Are you wearing anything for Halloween?” asked the golden-haired demigod, gesturing at Nico’s outfit as though it didn’t really fit the theme of the day.

“I’m wearing it…” said the Italian, tentatively, with a raised eyebrow at his boyfriend. Will rolled his eyes again.

“But you always wear that!”

“I think it’s scary enough for Halloween!”

“Nico! Halloween isn’t just about being scary. It’s about dressing up and pretending to be something else!” The son of Hades doubted that, but decided to go along with what Will said. That was, until the son of Apollo pushed the other costume into his arms. “There. Wear that!” Nico scowled, first at his boyfriend, then at the bright green overalls in his arms. “But Solace I don’t do colours” said the son of Apollo in his best attempt at imitating Nico’s voice, which earned him a playful swat.

The son of Hades thrust the costume back into Will’s arms. The golden-haired demigod had already said what he wanted to say, so he was standing there, awkwardly waiting for Will to say something in reply. “…Really, Death Boy?” said Will, realizing what Nico was expecting him to do. He rolled his eyes playfully. “But couples always dress in matching costumes or couple costumes for Halloween!” protested the son of Apollo. The son of Hades gagged at the idea of couple costumes, but it baffled him even more. He definitely did not know any famous gay Italian plumbers.

“I don’t even know who Mario and… green Mario are!” protested Nico.

“Gods, sometimes I forget that you’re from a different time…” Will chuckled and thrust the Luigi costume back into Nico’s arms. “Come on. We’re going to educate you.” The son of Hades was confused. Were they going to a library? Were there books in the camp that had records of this piece of Italian history that he did not know about? Needless to say, his curiosity got the best of him, and he found himself dragged all the way to the front door of the Hephaestus cabin.

Will banged on the door. “Hey Valdez!” There was a loud explosion from inside, then a little yelling, then a short scuffle. Leo had returned a day or two before Nico had left, Calypso in tow. Everyone had been shocked, especially Percy. The son of Poseidon at least had the grace to look bashful, and, Nico was certain, he probably started begging forgiveness from Calypso soon after. Nico found himself idly wondering what had happened to the two, and whether they had settled their differences. He would probably find out soon enough.

“Go away! We don’t have candy!” The two demigods heard a whirr of a motor coming to life. Then a hacking sound followed by another explosion. This time, it came from outside. Both their heads snapped in the direction of the sound. A mechanical arm of sorts was sputtering, spewing smoke and sparks. Then it went limp. “Dangit! I told you to make sure the trick-or-treater neutralaser was functional!” There were sounds of protest from inside. Apparently someone had messed up the circuitry.

“I’m not trick-or-treating! We have a pop-culture emergency!” called Will. Much to his surprise, there was a murmur from inside, as though the Hephaestus kids were discussing whether to take them on their word. The Hephaestus kids probably didn’t think they would be the ones consulted about pop-culture, but Will was pretty sure that they had consoles that would let them play Mario… If the consoles hadn’t already been re-appropriated for other, more nefarious ends.

“I’m not exactly a master of pop-culture myself, sunny-boy!” Leo called out. “But I see you don’t have any Hermes kids… So _maybe_ we’ll let you in.”

“Sunny-boy?” asked Nico, frowning. That was a ridiculous name. He liked it. He wished he’d thought about it first, but Leo had a way with infuriating nicknames. He could feel Will bristle beside him at the nickname. The son of Hades hid a grin. He was _definitely_ going to borrow that one from Leo.

“Nico doesn’t know Mario!” There was a collective gasp from inside the cabin and the door swung open with such force, Nico was afraid that the entire front of the cabin would cave in. “Finally!”

“Seriously?” asked Leo as though Mario was a universal thing that _everyone_ knew. Nico couldn’t help but feel a little bit self-conscious.

“He’s a famous gay Italian plumber?” there was dead silence in the cabin as the door swung shut with a resounding boom behind the son of Hades. He felt uncomfortable, standing there with all the wide eyes, staring at him, his boyfriend included. The silence stretched for what seemed to be an eternity, before everyone started cracking up laughing. “What? What’s so funny?! Isn’t that what he is?!” demanded Nico, feeling more than a little embarrassed and distressed at the situation that he had managed to find himself in.

Leo pulled up a chair, a console, a controller, and a screen probably as large as Nico. “Sit down, Death Boy, you have a lot to learn.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this story. I was thinking about Halloween earlier this morning, and the thought crossed my mind: what would Nico and Will wear? And I realized that Nico would probably think Halloween is about dressing like a monster and scaring the living daylights out of people, while Will would take on the more 'fun' aspect of Halloween these days, which is basically just dressing up.
> 
> Then after that I realized Will would probably want to have a couples costume, and, because Nico's Italian and all, go as Mario without even thinking that as a living anachronism, Nico probably wouldn't even have the faintest clue who Mario was.
> 
> Advanced Happy Halloween to all my readers! <3\. As always, kudos if you liked the story, and leave a comment if you have any questions, suggestions, or general feedback. I'd love to hear it.


End file.
